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“Be Kind to Books Club” WPA reading poster by artist Arlington Gregg

The focus on the “public good” dominates the themes and messages of WPA posters. From eating healthy, to getting vaccinations, the posters all extolled the virtues of ideal Americans. It is interesting to look at the role reading and libraries played in this system. As with the library posters from previous generations, many of the posters of this time simply promote reading in some form. This time period begins to offer some unique approaches to this message for individual groups of readers. The two posters below are examples of a new way to promote the familiar message. By tailoring the poster to students, these posters show one of the many possible audiences that future library posters would try to capture.

Although the positive messages of the WPA posters would not last, their influence, particularly in artistic style, is still evident today. Many of the early National Library Week posters have an artistic style similar to the WPA posters, but styles of the 1960s and 70s share very little with these simple designs. In the past twenty years, WPA posters have reemerged and have become collector’s items in the art community.

“Miss Muffet” WPA reading poster by artist Arlington Gregg

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“Be Kind to Books Club” WPA reading poster by artist Arlington Gregg

We've compiled a list of the 25 best vintage WPA posters below. Scroll through the slideshow and let us know your favorite piece in the comments.

Although the positive messages of the WPA posters would not last, their influence, particularly in artistic style, is still evident today. Many of the early National Library Week posters have an artistic style similar to the WPA posters, but styles of the 1960s and 70s share very little with these simple designs. In the past twenty years, WPA posters have reemerged and have become collector’s items in the art community.

WPA poster from the 1930's that I animated with After Effects.

The surge of interest in new typographical design and the influence of the WPA Poster Project’s supervisor, Richard Floethe, had a dynamic effect on the project designers. Floethe had studied at the Bauhaus and genuinely believed in a utilitarian approach to art. The designer, he felt, should be equally at home in industrial design, stage design, typography or painting. Good visual thinking could be applied to any discipline.

In creating the first WPA Poster Project, the federal government united the artistic community and greatly increased the self-respect of the graphic designer in a time of real economic hardship. Fine artists, graphic designers, sculptors all found themselves in the same category of the unemployed. The Poster Project, however, like the rest of the larger Federal Art Project, was never fully supported by the Administration or Congress. It faced a continual cutback of funds, primarily as the approach of World War II promised a reviving economy. The Artists Union kept up a continual struggle against layoffs, harassment and firing of artists for political activities. In December 1936, 219 artists were arrested in New York, some brutally beaten, for protesting a cut of 2,000 artists from the project and the threatened liquidation of the entire program. In May 1938, salaries were slashed from $23.86 to $17.28 a week. In 1939, the final blow came. The Emergency Relief Appropriations Act passed by Congress killed the art, music, writers, historical records and other WPA cultural projects, turning them over to the states with the certain knowledge that this meant their early demise. The message was clear. Government support for the arts was merely a stop-gap until the war could revitalize the overall economy.

WPA poster advertising art classes for children

WPA poster promoting the zoo as a place to visit, showing an elephant

In creating the first WPA Poster Project, the federal government united the artistic community and greatly increased the self-respect of the graphic designer in a time of real economic hardship. Fine artists, graphic designers, sculptors all found themselves in the same category of the unemployed. The Poster Project, however, like the rest of the larger Federal Art Project, was never fully supported by the Administration or Congress. It faced a continual cutback of funds, primarily as the approach of World War II promised a reviving economy. The Artists Union kept up a continual struggle against layoffs, harassment and firing of artists for political activities. In December 1936, 219 artists were arrested in New York, some brutally beaten, for protesting a cut of 2,000 artists from the project and the threatened liquidation of the entire program. In May 1938, salaries were slashed from $23.86 to $17.28 a week. In 1939, the final blow came. The Emergency Relief Appropriations Act passed by Congress killed the art, music, writers, historical records and other WPA cultural projects, turning them over to the states with the certain knowledge that this meant their early demise. The message was clear. Government support for the arts was merely a stop-gap until the war could revitalize the overall economy.

The surge of interest in new typographical design and the influence of the WPA Poster Project’s supervisor, Richard Floethe, had a dynamic effect on the project designers. Floethe had studied at the Bauhaus and genuinely believed in a utilitarian approach to art. The designer, he felt, should be equally at home in industrial design, stage design, typography or painting. Good visual thinking could be applied to any discipline.